Mike and I came to the farm Monday morning, bringing enough supplies for a night or
two. It’s just a quick trip to take care of some fall clean-up. Fall colors
have begun to appear, and the trip up the Clearwater was beautiful. In fact, Monday
was a beautiful day here with a high in the mid-70s and a pleasant 72 in the house. It's just a few degrees cooler today.
No mice in traps but obvious rodent activity in the yard.
We
stayed in town several weeks, and I was worried about the produce ripening here
at the farm. However, for the little we actually get, I told myself that it
just didn’t matter, so I was elated to see that apples still hung on the three
young trees in our little orchard / meadow behind the house. I picked as
follows:
· 7 Empire (the tree
closest to the house) – no worms (Yay!)
· 5 Freedom – quite wormy
· Honey Crisp – 3 beautiful
medium-sized apples; 4 small; half a dozen culls; and a bunch that succumbed to
the worms.
It
seems that the dormant spray has helped, so we’ll keep that up. Each tree is protected
by fencing, or the deer would have eaten the apples by now – maybe even the
trees! In fact, the country trees are barren of fruit now. Existing apples have
disappeared, but some trees did not set fruit this year. I used most of the
apples I picked to make a pint of applesauce.
It hasn’t frozen here yet. The zucchini plant still looked good but had only
one very overgrown squash and a couple that were misshapen. The tomato vine was
dying, but I picked plenty of red and green tomatoes. The strawberries didn’t
do a thing this year, so while we were pulling out the zucchini and tomato
plants, we ripped out the strawberries, too. Then Mike spread manure over the
beds and tilled them. I don’t think we’ve ever done such a good job of putting
the garden to bed.
We also put away the solar lights and ornaments. I love solar lights. Mike said the orchard looked like a carnival this year.
Son Murray, who gardens in town, reported that his tomato plant set on late in the season. He had his first BLT just last week. He called it “August in October.” And we discussed what we could do with the green tomatoes. I believe I have enough to make green tomato mincemeat.
In other kitchen work here, I used some frozen serviceberry and apple juice to make a batch of jelly. It took a long time for it to cook (I think the burners need adjustment) and turned out syrupy but delicious.
I
believe a change in the weather is imminent, but I can’t tell you how many
times I have washed and put away my lighter-weight clothes – especially nightwear
– only to dig them out again.
Speaking of temperatures, I’m listening to The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown in which he mentions a record high in my hometown of Orofino, Idaho, on July 28,1934 – 118 degrees. It was 117 in Lewiston and Lapwai. I verified this online, where it also said this temp is still the highest recorded in Idaho. KW
3 comments:
I also love solar lights. I feel that one can never have too many. Light it up like the Las Vegas strip. Haha.
I've heard many people say that their tomatoes came on late this year.
Hmm, so I guess there've been high temperatures always. I know mom always said it was 109 the day she was in labor with me. Interesting that Orofino's temperature made it into that book. It's cold and wet up here today, fall seems to have really fallen.
Hi Becky! Solar lights have revolutionized my life. Just turn them on and they take care of themselves. We just have to place the sensor so that it gets plenty of sun. And it's always interesting to compare garden notes because so often we do have the same experience. I think the heat and lack of moisture is the issue.
And Chris, that August (of the year we were born) was a scorcher. I believe this has happened from time to time but now we're having it more consistently. According to the weather service, autumn is indeed upon us.
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